10 Questions with John Imbong of ServeHappy Jobs
ServeHappy Jobs is one of Launchgarage’s most sucessful startups to date with an impressive track record over the past year. They were the victors of the inaugural Techtonic pitching competition in 2017 and managed to sweep the floor by qualifying for the Seedstars World Summit in 2018.
As an innovative recruitment platform, they help uplift the profiles of the service based workforce while leveraging social media recruitment technologies.
Its Chief Operating Officer, Jim Imbong has had a particularly interesting journey to get to where he is today.
1. What was your experience before entering the Startup industry?
Prior to getting into the startup industry, I was a Sr. Software Engineer for AGI; a User Group Manager for Adobe Systems specializing in the now defunct Adobe Flash Game Development; and an IT Consultant for ADB for some of their sponsored projects designed for implementation by the Philippine Government. I also work as a Computer Science and Multimedia professor for MINT College teaching courses in Natural Language Programming (Chatbots) and Web Development.
2. What is your main contribution in your role as COO of ServeHappy?
I’d like to think I bring a wholistic view to project development having deeply worked with both front-end, back-end, and systems management on tech-enabled projects.
3. What is your specific vision for the company moving forward?
My vision for ServeHappy Jobs is for it to be the de facto arena for job seekers in the service workspace. The year 2018 is a huge challenge us because not only does every one in our team want to give people jobs they can be proud of but we want to educate them as well in the ways and methods of how technology can be used to better one’s standing in life.
4. What goals have you set for yourself as a leader in your company?
In ServeHappy Jobs we only have one core KPI set in the hearts of all 4 founders, “How many people get hired through our system.” All our team’s innovations push the singular objective of giving more people the jobs they deserve instead of only the jobs they know about.
5. How do you see yourself as a disruptor in the industry?
Every startup founder has that slight itch of becoming a disruptor at one point or another but I personally just want to give someone a new job. I don’t want to disrupt anything — I just want to make things easier for everyone.
6. What do you believe it takes for someone to be of positive influence to society?
Anything transformative takes time. For that time to be worth yours you need a team who understands you and keeps pushing you in the right direction. Every startup begins with a problem you’re all trying to solve and having a solid team ensures that how you solve it won’t matter as long as you all get there together.
7. What obstacles/setbacks have you faced and how did you overcome those obstacles?
Other than running a business without capital, finding the right people to push your dream forward is one of the more significant issues one can come across. This is a challenge we continually face and there is no silver bullet for it other than believing in your dream first that you may attract those that have the same sentiment.
8. Tell us some fun facts about yourself.
- I grew up playing Tennis ranking 2nd on the national level in the Juniors
- I was sponsored by Wilson while in the Juniors
- I’m an avid reader consuming 3 books a week on good days
- I worked as a colorist for Marvel Comics back in college
- I can eat for 2–3 people and not get fat due to my high metabolism :)
- I learned programming on my own
9. Let’s dig a little bit deeper. Who are what were your sources of inspiration to get to where you are today?
I’d like to thank my very first mentor, Bruno David Tanseco, who, despite being 10 years my senior, was patient enough to show me what it was like to work with tech. Back in high school I’d borrow some of his expensive Adobe books to read only to return them months later with folds and foxing on the edges. While everyone was using Windows 95, I was using Mac OS9 thanks to him. I’d say that got the ball rolling for me.
10. What advice can you give to aspiring startup founders?
Not knowing the things I’m interested in always bothers me. Solution: READ. Read until your eyes drop and your coffee runs out.
